Supreme Court Conclusively Upholds Sofia City Court Chair Appointment

The appointment of Sofia City Court Chair Vladimira Yaneva has been conclusively approved by a 5-judge panel of VAS. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

The appointment of Vladimira Yaneva as Chair of the Sofia City Court (SCC), widely regarded as controversial, was conclusively declared lawful by the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) on Thursday.

The lawsuit was initiated by the other candidate for the post, Velichka Tsanova, who claimed that the criteria applied by the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) in the procedure were unclear.

On November 03, a three-judge panel of VAS cancelled the procedure, but Yaneva appealed the decision.

According to the motives listed by judges Yulia Kovacheva and Sonia Yankulova in the November 03 decision, the contested appointment was in breach of the statutory requirements.

The magistrates argued that the latest amendments to the Judiciary Act provided for an appointment of administrative court heads through an open vote and a majority of over half of the ballots cast by the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS).

The decision for Yaneva's appointment, however, had been taken in a secret vote.

The manner of voting had been reflected in the protocol which had been used as evidence, the November 03 decision reminded.

The judges stated that no violations had occurred except for the manner of voting.

The decision from November 03 was not signed by the third member of the judge panel, Ivan Radenkov, who self-recused on the grounds of the questionable impartiality of the ruling.

On November 18, the Constitutional Court (KS) revoked a set of amendments to the Judiciary Act and restored the previous regime under which administrative directors in the system are appointed through a secret ballot, just like judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates.

According to Rumen Elenski, Yaneva's defender, insisted that the decision cancelling her appointment was null and void because of the self-recusal of Radenkov.

The five-judge panel of VAS, however, upheld the legal validity of the November 03 decision in its Thursday ruling.

The five judges of VAS conclusively confirmed the legality of Yaneva's appointment on the basis of the KS ruling establishing the secret-ballot regime for nominating administrative heads of units of the judiciary.

The five VAS judges refused to review Tsanova's objections related to the unclear motives for Yaneva's appointment.

The Vladimira Yaneva scandal broke at the end of May, when she won the post of Sofia City Court Chair despite her scant four years of experience, two of which had been spent on a maternity leave.

Yaneva's sole rival was Velichka Tsanova, a judge with extensive experience, Deputy Chair and temporarily in charge of the same court.

Yaneva won the appointment in a re-vote.

Yaneva, who has admitted to be close family friend of Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, also ended up mired in a conflict-of-interest saga.

In May 2002, the current SCC Chair, who had just been appointed Junior Judge, sealed a contract for the purchase of two pieces of property from Sofiyski Imoti as a proxy for a company owned by her father.

Eight years later, Yaneva was assigned the embezzlement trial against the management of the municipal real estate company, delaying her pronouncement for several months and eventually calling the case closed and returning it to the Prosecutor's Office.

Bulgaria's Commission for Prevention and Ascertainment of Conflict of Interest eventually acquitted Yaneva of conflict of interest charges and the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office upheld the ruling.

The VSS Inspectorate, however, found that the SCC Chair had flouted deadlines in the Sofyiski Imoti case, as well as in a number of other cases, for which she had to face disciplinary action.

The VSS Inspectorate is yet to determine the disciplinary sanction for the unreasonable delays caused by the SCC Chair.

Yaneva's appointment sent shockwaves through the judicial system in Bulgaria, triggering several protest resignations and accusations of unauthorized intervention on the part of the executive in affairs of the judiciary.

At the same time, two parallel protest campaigns urging the "totally discredited" VSS to collectively resign were organized by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and by the bivol.bg website for investigative journalism.

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